Numerous devices have been provided in the prior art for processing eggs and more particularly for separating the yolk and albumen of eggs in the manner of the present invention.
Many of these prior art devices either had to be held by hand or suspended over a bowl, cup or the like. Following the separation of the albumen from each egg, it was then often necessary to remove or upend the device for discarding or transferring the yolk from the device before it was in a condition for receiving the next egg.
Devices of this type, which may or may not have included all of the specific features noted above, were disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,463,666 issued Aug. 7, 1984 to Papp; U.S. Pat. No. 3,749,001 issued July 31, 1973 to Swett; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,656,525 issued Apr. 18, 1972 to Goodart.
Still other devices for separating eggs appeared to contemplate use where relatively large numbers of eggs may be separated. These devices were relatively complex and tended to include substantial numbers of moving parts.
Such devices have been disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,042 issued Apr. 24, 1990 to Rasmussen and U.S. Pat. No. 4,137,837 issued Feb. 6, 1979 to Warren.
Still further examples of devices for separating the yolk and albumen of eggs have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,423 issued Jan. 24, 1989 to Willsey and U.S. Pat. No. 4,541,330 issued Sept. 17, 1985 to Fujimura.